A Family-Run Adventure Cooperative
by tyrnfrd
Summary: Following a group of original characters. Valeria and Natasha Lanfar, along with their friend Remington, find out hereditary nobility is kind of boring, and go looking for something better. I fully expect everyone's favorite assassin to make an appearance at some point. Regardless of the title, this isn't supposed to be comedic. CURRENTLY UNDERGOING A LONG-TERM REWRITE.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: As I am not R. A. Salvatore, and also surprisingly not Gary Gygax or any of those other wonderful fellows, I don't own any of this except my own imagination.

* * *

To the outside observer the day would have seemed very normal. Light mist coated the ground in the early hours after dawn, floating up the sides of the trees just beginning to grow leaves. But to Lord Albert Lanfar and Lady Elise Lanfar, this day was anything but normal.

Lady Elise had woken early. Too early, for she was a deep sleeper, and lately rarely woke before noon. But today was different. She awoke minutes before dawn, and shook her husband from his pleasant dreams. "My stomach is killing me," she groaned. "I think it's time." Lord Albert sprang from the bed, a worry lines creasing his otherwise handsome face, and ran to the door. He opened it and said simply, "Call the midwife."

A few hours had passed since then, and Lady Elise was still as calm as ever, lying on the bed, chatting to the midwife, and following instructions. Lord Albert, on the other hand, had not been calm for weeks, and the waiting was only making it worse. It had been almost three years ago that they had begun trying for a child, now, with so little time left, Lord Albert was worried. There were often complications in childbirth. Maybe he should have gone against his wife's orders and brought in a wizard. It was too late for that now. Still, his wife seemed calm, and looking at her Lord Albert calmed somewhat. She had been the love of his life since they met as adolescents on a pirate ship in the Sea of Swords. The young Albert had been looking for his father, and Elise had been the captain's daughter of a ship he had boarded searching for the elder Lanfar. Albert had been so captivated by the sight of her, dark hair flowing around a porcelain face as she fought, that he had been momentarily stunned. And then literally stunned and taken prisoner by the pirates.

He had spent a few years of useful apprenticeship with the pirates, and eventually came away with his own ship, and a beautiful first mate. But seafaring was not his destiny, so he returned home to take over the running of the estate, and his first mate became his wife. He had never found his father.

As he continued to gaze at his wife's face, Lord Albert realized that she was crying, but also smiling through the tears. Returning his gaze to the task at hand, he saw the midwife holding what could only be a baby girl. He couldn't help some tears of his own as his wife said "We'll call her Valeria."


	2. Chapter 2

A year later, Valeria was joined by another baby girl, but not quite a sister. Lord Albert's only sister had never given up the search for their father, but she could not risk bringing a baby with her on such a dangerous undertaking. So she enlisted a local shaman to deliver the baby, with a simple note indicating her name and heritage, to Lord Albert's doorstep on the family estate. And so Lady Natasha Lanfar, daughter of Lady Cecilie Lanfar, joined the family. She was celebrated as Lord Albert's second daughter, as there was no reason for people to know that Lady Cecilie had had an illegitimate child, let alone with a barbarian.

That Natasha was Lord Albert's child was never questioned as the children grew. Valeria and Natasha seemed like twins as much as sisters, with the same straight raven hair falling across their faces, the same broad shoulders and delicate hands. The only way to tell them apart, other than height, was to look into their eyes. Valeria's were black, like her parents, but Natasha's were a piercing icy blue, most likely from her father.

These piercing blue eyes were now fixed on Remington, one of the page boys on the estate. Remington was three years older than Valeria, and four years older than Natasha, but the adolescent quailed under that gaze. "I shall ask you one more time," declared Natasha, "and then I shall have to tell Alice what you said. I'm sure she'll be very interested to hear that Remington thinks she's below him."

"But… but I didn't… I didn't say that..." stuttered Remington.

"I know you didn't," Natasha replied. "But what would poor Alice believe? She's still upset that you didn't take her to the Midwinter Ball you know."

"I couldn't help it, I was sick!"

"I know. But pleading won't help you. Tell me what I need to know. Now." Remington shuddered, and then pointed at the cabinet at the end of the hallway. Natasha shot him her sweetest smile. "Thank you Remington dearest," she sang. "I'll make sure Alice knows what a good boy you are. You may go now." She could have sworn Remington had the aid of some teleportation spell he vanished so quickly. Natasha advanced on the cabinet, and pulled it open, revealing Valeria.

The black eyes looked into the blue disapprovingly. "You knew I was here, didn't you?" It wasn't a question really, Valeria already knew the answer. "You should be kinder to Remington, his life is hard enough. Alice teases him nearly as mercilessly as you do. Anyway, you wasted enough time frightening the poor boy, we should be on our way to the Maestro's lesson."


	3. Chapter 3

Supposedly the Maestro was the greatest warrior on the Lanfar estate. If you believed some, he was the greatest warrior in the whole region. Then again, there were few people alive who had seen Lord Albert and Lady Elise in battle, and most of them were thousands of miles away, out on the ocean. The Maestro was also very old. He had been the first Lanfar's bodyguard, and his friend. But that didn't mean he would let his friend's grandchildren get away with anything. Natasha and Valeria raced into the training hall, but too late. The bells had already begun to chime the hour. The Maestro looked at them disapprovingly.

The girls knew what was coming, and it didn't help to see Remington smirk. He hadn't wasted his head start, and had arrived, breathing heavily, moments before the bells began to ring. Before the Maestro even had to speak, the girls each raised one leg off the ground, and continued to stand, one-legged. They had been late enough times to know what the punishment was, and to know that the Maestro would tell them when to stop. There was little to do except concentrate on balancing, and to watch the Maestro teach.

Today, as every day, the _teaching_ consisted of sparring. The Maestro was old-fashioned, and all sparring was done with longswords. The Maestro had other weapons of course, but he wouldn't allow any of his trainees to use them. If you asked the Maestro why, he would simply state "A good warrior uses whatever tools he has available. And a longsword teaches the movements as well as any other."

The girls watched, faces screwed up in concentration, as Remington sparred with the Maestro. The sandy-haired youth was fast, but his speed was his undoing, as his swing whistled past the Maestro and he lost his balance. The Maestro simply tapped Remington's prone form with the flat of his blade, white eyebrows raised slightly, perhaps with amusement. He spoke quickly and quietly to the boy, his clipped tones not reaching the girls, despite their proximity. Perhaps it was the acoustics of the training hall. The Maestro looked up. "At ease." The girls gratefully settled onto both feet, trying not to let it show that they had been seconds away from collapsing. This would not be an easy session.


	4. Chapter 4

An hour passed, the children taking turns to spar with the Maestro and with each other, and then the bells began to ring again. The Maestro had many responsibilities, and between training the militia, the castle guards, and a variety of noble children and adventurers from around the region, he could only spare an hour for the Lanfar children and the Lanfars' page. Fortunately, the children and the page had other things to entertain them.

They rushed off as quickly as their bruises and weary muscles would allow, and arrived not a moment too late in the courtyard. As they reached the great double doors of the castle, held open by giant stone doorstops shaped like lions, they caught the end of a light show being performed by Hyperias, a magician travelling through the region. Valeria grabbed the other two and ran forward, blocking the magician's route as he tried to return to his room, one of the castle's many guest rooms.

She stepped forward, only a little bit nervous of the tall and mysterious figure. He smiled at her, a disarming and shy smile, and she realized that he was much younger than any other wizard who had visited. Much younger, in fact, than her parents. "Will you teach us a magic trick?" she asked as politely as she knew how, trying to conceal her great excitement. She couldn't conceal her excitement for long, because Hyperias agreed to do so almost immediately.

It wasn't easy to learn magic, it turned out. The castle bells had rung out for the hour three times since Hyperias began to teach, and the most any child had produced was a single spark, produced by Natasha. Nevertheless, that single spark had encouraged them to redouble their efforts, and they had no intention of stopping. So enthralled were they that nobody noticed the sudden disappearance of Hyperias.

They did notice his return, however. The young wizard teleported into the room, creating a cloud of blue smoke and bright flashes of light as he did so. The cantrips came easily, and when the smoke cleared he had the children's' attention. "I brought food," he declared, "And Lady Lanfar says you must go to bed within the next two hours. Don't look so upset," he added, seeing the despair on the little faces, "I'll be here tomorrow, so you have plenty of time to learn some magic." The faces brightened at that, and little hands grabbed for the steaming plates of food Hyperias had brought.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day was a long one. Natasha was the first to arrive at Hyperias' room, closely followed by a sleepy Valeria, shuffling along and rubbing her eyes as she moved. It was nearly an hour until Remington finally arrived, having been detained by a mildly irritated Lord Lanfar, asking why the fires were not lit. By the time Remington lit the fires, which was a lot easier than actually finding out why the servant responsible had not lit them, he had hardly had time to eat before running off to Hyperias' room.

When he arrived, Natasha and Valeria were already sitting on the floor, legs crossed, focusing on making the magic work. Natasha was creating a relatively consistent stream of sparks, a far cry from the fiery orb she was aiming to create, but still something. Valeria, on the other hand, was playing with a pale blue orb that spun and sped around the room at her guidance. Remington was envious of her new toy, but also happy for his friend.

Hyperias had explained that their first spell would always be the easiest one to cast, causing Natasha to choose an orb of fire and Valeria to choose an orb of magical energy, both of which could be controlled by the mind. Remington had greater plans though. He spoke to Hyperias again, reviewing the instructions, and fixing the unnatural hand motions into his mind. Finally, he was ready. He noticed Natasha's jaw drop as he cast his spell, but Valeria was looking away, and saw nothing. He assumed the spell had worked. Stepping gently behind Valeria, he tapped her shoulder.

Valeria felt the tap on her shoulder, and her concentration disappeared. The magical orb she had worked so hard to maintain disappeared. She whirled angrily to see who had distracted her. But there was nobody there. She stared for a moment, and then felt her nose being gently pushed. Reactions kicked in, and she swatted through the air, making contact with something she couldn't see. She grabbed onto it and pulled. She heard a familiar grunt of pain, and then Remington appeared in front of her, his arm held in her grasp. "It worked!" She pulled Remington into a celebratory hug, and Natasha and Hyperias gave a small round of applause. None of them had truly expected Remington to be able to pull of what was truly an impressive piece of magic. It didn't occur to them at that point how much more difficult hide-and-seek would become.


	6. Chapter 6

In the few months after learning their first spells, the children were even more of a nuisance around the castle. Eventually Lord Albert was forced to put up wards against invisibility around much of the castle just to deal with the pranks that Remington would pull while invisible, and the Maestro began to complain about the difficulties of teaching students who were either firing unmissing magical energy at him or disappearing and attacking him from behind. Lord Albert laughed off the moaning of his father's old friend, but eventually even he could not tolerate the children any more.

"Look what they've done now," the Lord raged to his wife, gesturing at the tapestry on the wall of the great hall. Once a map of Faerun, the entire Sword Coast had been obliterated by something very hot moving very quickly. "I'm sending them away," he declared. Before his wife could protest, he summoned the children, putting to use all of the lung capacity he had gained in his years on the open sea.

"Which of you would like to explain this?" The children looked down at their feet. "Anyone?" The children continued to stare intently at their feet, causing Lord Albert to seethe even more. "Very well." He took a deep breath, and relinquished his anger. Not an easy task. He'd travelled all the way to Calimport to acquire that particular tapestry, and was quite fond of it. After all, it was part of the prize from the first ship he'd boarded as a newly minted pirate captain.

"Your recklessness has made me reconsider. You have been begging to learn magic for months, ever since that Hyperias came past." A look of surprise flashed across the faces of each of the children. "You leave for Everlund tomorrow. There is a school of magic there. I have paid for one year of studies. If you wish to stay longer, you will have to work for it." Lord Alfred watched as the children exchanged excited glances, before interrupting their silent celebrations. "I shall expect you to continue to your studies. When you return, you will be tested by the Maestro and by the Horsemaster. It would not be in your interests to fail those tests."


	7. Chapter 7

The journey to Everlund took days, travelling along the Rauvin River on horseback. The three children would be accompanied by the smooth and well-spoken Captain Darryl, the most trusted of the Lanfar soldiers, and the Maestro. The children found that it an enjoyable trip, spending lots of time questioning the Maestro and Captain Darryl about their exploits. Darryl, it transpired, had been Lady Elise's childhood friend, and had once been the most feared swashbuckler in the Moonshae Isles. That was, of course, before he met Lord Albert. Albert and Darryl had become friends, and when Albert had returned with Elise to Lanfar Castle, Darryl went with them, and joined the castle guard, rapidly rising to the rank of Captain of the Guard.

As interesting as the stories of piracy and plunder that Darryl told, however, they paled in comparison to the Maestro's tales of the original Lord Lanfar. Lanfar had been his first name, and he had grown up a thief on the streets of Calimport. The Maestro didn't know a lot about his former comrade's early years, having only met Lanfar when they were both in their early twenties. By that time Lanfar already had a reputation as a deadly swordsman, as well as a trickster. He and the Maestro had dueled for two days over a dragon's hoard in southern Amn, only stopping to slay the dragon when it returned from a hunting expedition. Eventually Lanfar had prevailed, a fact that filled the children with wonder. It was rare for anyone to defeat the Maestro, even now in his old age.

Lanfar and the Maestro had become fast friends, and spent almost a decade rampaging throughout Faerun, even once fighting off an entire patrol of dark elves when they took a wrong turn in the Underdark. However, when Lanfar met Lord Albert's mother, they decided to settle down, and took one last job. That job had been to liberate Everlund from an orc tribe that terrorized the region. As they rode, the Maestro pointed out key places where battles had taken place, and the spot where Lanfar had fought two hundred orcs to a standstill while Everlund readied its defenses. The Maestro swore that he was not exaggerating the numbers, and his audience, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, believed him. Captain Darryl, who had seen both Lanfar and the Maestro in battle when he was just a child, did not need persuading.

Eventually though, the stories ran dry, and they set up camp on the outskirts of Everlund. They would enter in the morning. These regions were as safe as anywhere now, a legacy of Lanfar, and of the well-armed forces of Castle Lanfar only two days ride away. The guards of Castle Lanfar were always on duty.


	8. Chapter 8

Dawn saw the five travelers eat a quick breakfast and then saddle up their horses to ride into town. They had traveled light - Lord Lanfar had wanted the children gone before they could destroy anything else - and their belongings would be arriving by barge along the Rauvin in a few days. It took very little time to reach the school, the children pushing their mounts faster and faster with excitement.

The school was unimposing for the power it held. Three parallel stone buildings, thin three-storied rectangles, with tiled roofs. But to Natasha it could have been a palace. She could sense the power of the inhabitants. There was a low stone wall around the school grounds, and a large gate at the front. They were met at the gates by a young man, around the same age as Remington. When he heard who they were, he pointed them to the stables, a low wooden barn almost hidden behind a copse of trees in the corner of the grounds, and then instructed them to visit the Headmistress' office, in the middle building of the three.

The headmistress was not an imposing lady, but Natasha could feel the power emanating from her. It was all she could do to raise her gaze to the headmistress' eyes, rather than stare at the floor. The Maestro and the Headmistress shared a brief conversation, which as far as Natasha could tell centered around tuition fees and class schedules. Eventually, the Headmistress spoke to the children. "You have all been accepted for a year of study at this institution. However, if you wish to make it past the first three months, you will need to show progress in your classes. Here is a map of the school," she continued, handing each child a parchment covered with lines and numbers. "You will be living in the East Dormitory, rooms five, six and seven. An apprentice will find you later today with your class schedule. Classes begin tomorrow, one hour after dawn. I suggest that you arrive early."


	9. Chapter 9

As my Russian friends would say, today's chapter is _syuperr_ long.

* * *

The days passed in a blur for the three children. They woke up at dawn, and headed straight to the Introductory Conjuration Seminar. After that, Valeria and Natasha had a free period while Remington attended Beginner Topics in Illusion (Negation of the Senses). This was by far Remington's favorite class, and focused on invisibility and inaudibility, along with some basic cantrips for disguise. Remington was quickly proving a natural, and Professor Illaea, the illusion and divination professor, had already tried to arrange for him to marry her daughter. Remington was a knight's son, however, and had no need to marry anyone if he didn't want to.

After Remington's class, they all met up for lunch, before heading to Basic Evocation. Then Remington had a free period while Natasha and Valeria had their favorite class, Casting In Combat. This class was generally only open to much more advanced students, but after consulting with the Maestro about their weapons skills, the Headmistress had decided that they would be able to survive the class through combat skills alone, even if their casting was relatively weak.

Natasha blinked wearily as the chalk began to write on the blackboard again, and reminded herself to listen to Professor Guthrak. The tall, dark-skinned professor had once been in the service of the Lords of Neverwinter, or so he claimed, but he lacked the slightest shred of charisma in lectures. The only time she had seen him at all animated, she recalled, was in the practice duels. She sighed. Practice duels were only on the final day of the week, and with lecture for four other days, it hardly seemed worth it. Professor Guthrak was still speaking, his monotone as flat as always. "As we can see," he gestured at the chalk continuing to draw on the board, this time some kind of graph, "the relationship between intake and output of magical energy depends on three factors; time, concentration, and complexity. Therefore, it is most efficient in the short run to use low quantities of raw power while giving high concentration to the task. Lanfar! What are the drawbacks to this approach?" Natasha guessed that he was asking her, and not her sister, and answered lazily, "Given that concentration can be assumed to be constant, and output is exponential with regard to time and complexity, in the long run, efficiency gains can be made by using more complex spells that require more time to cast."

This was of course the textbook answer, but there were looks of shock from around the classroom. Natasha was by far the youngest student in the class, having lived through a mere eleven summers, and the mathematics alone involved in these calculations was difficult for many of the students. As Professor Guthrak was about to continue with his lecture, the school bells rang. "For next class, each of you must provide an answer to the question on the board," Guthrak droned, gesturing to where the chalk and eraser were working in perfect harmony to replace the graphs and explanations with a four part calculation question. The students scribbled down the question quickly and then rushed for the exit.

Remington was waiting for Natasha and Valeria as they exited the room, and they headed to the Dining Hall together. The Dining Hall took up an entire floor of the central building, and they quickly grabbed food, a cabbage soup with fresh bread rolls, and headed for the farthest corner of the hall. It wouldn't be good if anyone overheard their conversation.

"So," muttered Remington through a mouthful of bread, "What shall we do this time?"

"I was thinking a raid on the West Dormitory," replied Valeria, draining her bowl of soup in what seemed to be a single gulp.

"Are you crazy?" replied Remington. "You want to make an entire dormitory into our enemies? That's got to be at least twenty, twenty-five students. And most of them know more than we do!"

"Well, it wouldn't be fun without a little risk, would it?"

"A little risk is fun, sure. But this, this isn't risk. Risk implies we might get away with it."

"I'm going to the library," Natasha interjected quietly. "Come find me when you're ready to actually figure this thing out."

It didn't take long for Natasha to descend the stairs into the basement of the central building, where the library was located. She pushed open the light wooden door, and walked straight to the back, not even noticing the other students, bent over projects and huge tomes in concentration. She reached the back wall of the library,and settled herself at the corner desk. This was the territory that the Lanfars and Remington had staked out for themselves when they had arrived. Surrounded by bookshelves on three sides, it was a private area, and Natasha loved to study there, uninterrupted by other students. She did feel there was something odd about this area of the library, however. Why did a wizarding school need an entire section dedicated to love poetry of the Underdark races? Natasha didn't know a lot about love, but she didn't think many of the Underdark races did either. Reading a small compendium, _Early Drow Poetry of Ched Nassad: The First Two Centuries_ , had given her nightmares for nearly a week.

Natasha had made it halfway through the assignment for Casting In Combat by the time Natasha and Remington finally showed up. Usually she didn't even do the assignments, and simply let her work in class show her ability, but the problem Professor Guthrak had assigned today was well beyond the scope of the class, and she was determined to solve it. While theoretical magic came easily to her, she was always willing to take on a challenge. Valeria and Remington sat and watched her work for a couple of minutes, but eventually their excitement got the best of them. "We've figured it out," whispered Valeria. "You know how the doors are warded? Well, they're only warded against detruction and tresspass. Which means not against illusion. And we just so happen to know a master of illusion." Remington grinned. He, of course, was the master to whom Valeria had been referring.

"So what?" Natasha questioned, trying to appear nonchalant, but inwardly quite intrigued by the idea. "We're just going to magic the doors to look different?" Remington scoffed at her, significantly too loudly for a library, and caught a glare off Valeria.

"We're going much, much bigger," he grinned. "Invisibility."

Turning a door invisible, Natasha knew, would not be easy. But the potential of the prank was too good to waste. She was sure that most students would be able to return the doors to their usual state pretty easily, but the chance to look inside all the other students' rooms was too good to pass up. "I'm in," she decided, "but you can't expect it to be easy. Remington might be good, but he doesn't have the power for that much casting in one night. And making it permanent won't be easy either."  
"That's why there are three of us," her sister replied. "I have the power, Rem has the skill, and you're the best theoretical magician in the school. I'm sure you can create some wards to make the invisibility more permanent."

Natasha somehow managed to swallow a great deal of ironic laughter. "You do realize," she began, sarcasm dripping from every clipped syllable, "that what you are suggesting would involve a complex ritual? The kind of ritual that kills the casters when it goes wrong? I'm sure it would be just fabulous to see Remington to explode from the inside because he can't handle the power you're giving him, but I don't really want to get my nice new robes dirty. You know how hard it is to get bloodstains out of any clothing, let alone my nice white robes." Remington's face lost a little color as she spoke, and Valeria looked somewhat unnerved, but responded confidently.

"That's why we'll practice," she declared. "Every night for the next week. We'll meet outside Remington's room at the ninth bell. Natasha, you can do whatever research you need right now. This is a library after all." Natasha wasn't happy with the way her older sister was acting, but she couldn't deny that it was exciting. And if the prank went to plan, they'd be famous. She'd never heard of anyone pulling anything like this before.


	10. Chapter 10

Remington's room was the obvious room for the preparations to take place. It was sandwiched between Natasha's and Valeria's, and there was an empty room across the hall, so it was the farthest away from outside ears. They had gathered inside at the ninth bell, intending to keep going until they got it right or collapsed from exhaustion, whichever came first. It had been exhaustion. Natasha was sprawled out over pages of calculations and diagrams, and most of the items in the room, including the snoring Remington, were now invisible. Valeria was the only one awake, sneaking furtive glances at her sister as she copied the Conjuration homework. If Natasha had been awake, she would probably have objected to sharing, but she wasn't, and there was no way Valeria was going to do the homework herself if she didn't have to.

When she finished copying the homework, making sure to get a couple of the questions wrong, she returned Natasha's papers to their correct place, and then woke her sister. They didn't need any rumors if they were found sleeping in a boy's room, after all. The girls cautiously searched the room for Remington, trying their best not to knock over any invisible objects as they did so. Finally Valeria found him and shook him awake, allowing him to release the spells of invisibility. With the customary clutter restored to view, including a pile of unsanitary dirty robes which Valeria wished he had left invisible, the girls returned quickly and quietly to their own rooms.


	11. Chapter 11

The breakthrough came days later. Natasha was in the library, letting her thoughts wander as her gaze lingered over _An Anthology of Inter-Racial Love Ballads: Volume 3, Drow and Duegar._ The extracurricular studying she had been doing for the past few days finally fit together. _Of course,_ she thought to herself. _It's really as simple as Harpell's Third Formula with Otiluke's Permanency Theorem. And something else._ She would have to do more research, but this would be enough to make some quick calculations. Maybe even enough to get the invisibility spell to hold for a week. And they didn't really need it to hold for a week.

Natasha quickly got the group together in Remington's room. She traced out some lines on the door to create the glyph that would be needed to contain the power of the invisibility spell. "Valeria. Touch this corner of the glyph. Remington, the opposite corner. When I say, Valeria can start feeding in raw power. I'll act as the funnel. If I say to stop, stop. Unless you want your sister in pieces all over the floor. Rem, I'll feed you the power slowly. Manipulate it the same way you would a normal invisibility spell." Natasha touched the middle of the glyph, and instructed her friends to begin.

The power surge was almost overwhelming. A tingling sensation spread down her arm and into her body. Natasha had never felt so alive. She had had no idea how much power her sister was had available to her. This was power in quantities Natasha had never experienced. "Stop!" She almost screamed it. "Valeria, you need to give me less power. I can't control all that to Remington. If it doesn't destroy me, I can't guarantee it won't destroy him." Valeria shrugged. "I'll try and keep it down. But why is he using my power anyway if he doesn't need it?" Natasha didn't bother to explain that the kind of power Valeria had produced was well beyond anything she could create, let alone Remington. They used skill to manipulate small quantities of magical power, whereas it seemed Valeria just poured out power to make up for lack of finesse.

It took three hours, but eventually the door became invisible. Valeria and Remington began to celebrate, but Natasha just scratched through the middle of the glyph, dissipating its effect, and left. She hardly made it back to her own room before collapsing. Nothing she had read described how difficult it would be to channel magical energy between a source and a user over such an extended period of time. She was drained.


	12. Chapter 12

Midnight, so folk lore had it, was a magically auspicious time. Of course, when Valeria had asked Professor Trezeguet, the Conjuration and Abjuration professor had simply smiled at her and asked her which local drunk had told her that. The balding little halfling certainly seemed to put no store in such legends. Either way, here they were, at midnight, in the West Dormitory, about to pull a prank that would go down in the school's history. None of them wore robes tonight. Comfortable as the traditional wizards' garments were, the flowing fabric and long hems were too much of a risk if they were caught. Valeria wore her dark brown riding outfit and a pair of canvas slippers, black hair tied back from her face with a single green ribbon. She looked at her companions, and then began to slowly release energy into the glyph that Natasha had created.

Valeria had been surprised to learn how much power she was capable of producing. She was sure there was some long, complicated explanation for why she could create so much raw power, and yet was still only a mediocre spellcaster, but it probably involved a lot of mathematics. Still, it rankled that her sister couldn't even control that amount of power, but could still cast far more powerful spells with ease. She sighed, returning to the task at hand. Squeezing out magical power at this rate was pretty boring, but the reward would be worth it. The edges of the door were already beginning to become transparent.

Natasha ran through the calculations again in her head, shamelessly rounding numbers which should really be left in their fractional form. But mentally juggling fractions was tricky at the best of times, and was probably not the best idea while also preventing her sister from overloading their friend with too much power. Imagining her sister's power as balls of gleaming wool in her mind helped. She wove the shining strings into a thick but flexible rope which she then passed along to where she felt Remington's presence. Finishing her calculations, she decided to weave slightly faster. If she was correct, Remington could handle at least a third more power than she was currently giving him.

Remington vaguely felt his body stiffen as power surged into him, but his mind was focused on transforming the magical energy into a stunning illusion of invisibility. He was working quickly, but he was unhurried and careful. He didn't want the spell to fail. Starting again would be a lot of effort, and he had no desire to go to more effort than was necessary. Casting with Valeria's energy was so very different to how it usually felt. The sheer quantity of power was like standing under a waterfall. _But the quality_ , he thought, _the quality is so very cultured. It's like writing with a quill instead of with a stick of charcoal_. That was probably Natasha's doing, he realized. The younger sister was without a doubt the most intelligent person Remington had ever met. Everything she did, he realized, was very precise. He thought back to their swordplay lessons with the Maestro. Natasha had been the only one of them ever to land a hit on the Maestro, her smooth swings and flowing motions creating what sometimes seemed like an infinite number of blades. Of course, she lost a lot more often against Remington and Valeria. No amount of subtlety and precision could make up for the fact that she lacked sheer power. The moment her blade was stopped, she was helpless.

 _One of the most amazing things about a group casting_ , Natasha remembered reading in a humorous essay by a young Malchor Harpell, _is that a skilled observer can sense something of the surface thoughts of the other casters. My cousins are still unaware of this, and believe I have some unnatural prescience._ Natasha was aware of this, and couldn't resist attempting to skim the thoughts of those next to her. Focusing on her sister, she detected flashes of frustration, and an unnerving desire to release far more magical energy than could possibly be wise into the glyph. From Remington, she sensed sly pleasure, tinged with irony. An image flashed through her mind. Herself, dueling with Remington. She tried to slip around his guard, but his sword blocked hers just in time. And then she was being pressed back. She watched herself slip, and Remington lowered his sword to her neck. In the background the Maestro was applauding.

Natasha cleared her throat, startling her companions. "Remington," she muttered, "Stop thinking about pretty women and finish this spell. We have a lot more doors to get to." The young man blushed, what Natasha could only assume was a deep, beetroot red, though it was impossible to see in the dark. Natasha was beginning to understand how Malchor had felt. Her comment had been just close enough to the truth to scare Remington without having any obvious connection. Plausible deniability, she decided, was just the thing.


	13. Chapter 13

When they arrived for breakfast the next morning, they were barraged by noise. Other students rushed towards them, vying to be the first to break the news. "Have you heard about the West Dormitories?" The speaker was Hannah, a young human woman. They tried to look nonchalant and confused, and they must have succeeded, because Hannah launched into an explanation of the invisible doors. It turned out that many of the students had thought the doors removed, and a quick scan of the room revealed quite a few red bumps on faces and foreheads. "So have they fixed them yet?" Natasha tried to sound concerned, when what she really wanted to know was how successful they had been. "Not yet," replied Hannah, "But Lontir says the Headmistress is there with Professor Illaea, and suffice it to say the Headmistress is not happy. He said Illaea was amused though. At least until she saw the Headmistress looking at her." Natasha tried to stop the blood from draining from her face. If the Headmistress was as angry as Hannah had said, the future was inauspicious to say the least.

They had an emergency meeting the moment Conjuration ended. Remington could skip Illusion without too much difficulty. Professor Illaea was a kind professor, and Remington was her favorite anyway. "What are we going to do?" Remington's voice was low, but clearly concerned. "They're definitely going to figure out it was us. What if the Headmistress kicks us out? She would, you know." Natasha nodded grimly. There was a lot of evidence to connect them to the crime. There would be magical signatures of three casters, and the illusion work was of very high level. The Headmistress couldn't fail to connect it to them. "Plausible deniability," she said finally. "Even if the Headmistress knows it was us, she can't prove it. As long as we didn't leave any evidence and we weren't seen, she can't be certain it was us. She might try and trick us into confessing, but if we stand firm, we should get away with it."

Natasha was right as usual. They did get away with it. The Headmistress started appearing around them more often, but they never spoke of the prank outside of their rooms, and by the time a month had passed, it seemed the Headmistress had given up trying to catch them. Professor Illaea had fixed all of the doors, except one, on an empty room right at the end of the hall. She claimed that it was too much unnecessary effort, but the children knew better. Professor Illaea was impressed, and decided to leave it as a permanent testament to their ability.

"You know, we should give ourselves a name." Valeria looked up from her Conjuration homework when Remington spoke, and she noticed Natasha look up as well, though her sister had just been doodling. "A name? We have names." Valeria really didn't have time for this right now. Her sister was clearly a magical genius, and Remington could coast through in Illusion, but she had to work hard in all of her classes. That didn't leave a lot of time for idle chatter. "No," Remington sighed, "A group name. Like the Companions of the Hall. Or the Shadow Thieves. Something we can sign our pranks with. There's no point being famous if you can't take credit for it." Valeria supposed there was some merit to the idea. After all, while their anonymity in the case of the invisible doors had prevented them from getting kicked out, it would have been nice to hear people talking about how great they were.

"The Co-Operative."

"The what?"

"The Co-Operative," Natasha repeated. "We do act as a co-operative, don't we?"  
"Natasha, not all of us read the books you do. What's a co-operative? In words of less than eight syllables please." Valeria tried to inject some humor into her reply, a vain attempt to cover up her exasperation.

"There are no eight-syllable words… Oh. Never mind. According to the elven revolutionary Lythlan, a co-operative is an organization where the workers are the owners, and they make decisions as a group. And split the profits, of course." Natasha's response could have come straight out of a textbook.

"So we're elven revolutionaries now? I like it." Remington grinned at Natasha, and Valeria again felt a twinge of jealousy. Repressing it, she forced a smile at her sister. "The Co-Operative it is."


	14. Chapter 14

The newly named Co-Operative began operations immediately. Natasha ditched her doodling for calculations, covering multiple pages of her private journal with numbers and symbols. The Co-Operative needed something truly special to announce themselves to the world, and Natasha was not above admitting that Valeria had come up with the perfect idea. Of course, Valeria was incapable of making it work on her own, so Natasha had to do all the actual work. Not that she minded. Natasha had too much love for her sister to get angry about uneven distribution of labor. And as Lythlan had said, _From each according to her ability, to each according to her need_. Natasha wasn't a revolutionary, but there was wisdom in those words.

Eventually the calculations were done. So, finally, was Valeria's Conjuration homework. Remington had gone back to his room, and now Natasha and Valeria joined him. "You figure it out?"

"Of course she did, Remington," Valeria replied to the grumpy boy.

"Sorry, of course you did. Don't mind me. What do we need to do?" Something was different about Remington, Valeria noticed. She shrugged. As long as he could still cast spells, she didn't really care. If he needed something, he'd tell them. "It's a simple enchantment, really," she told him.

"Let's get going then. Wouldn't do to not be done. If it weren't done then it wouldn't do, so it wouldn't be done." Remington seemed to think he'd said something profound, and Valeria couldn't help the feeling that something unusual was happening. Before she could say anything though, she was interrupted by Natasha, her tone unusually dry. "You do surprise me, Remington. I would never have guessed that something would be identical to itself. Let's go."

A few minutes later, the Co-Operative found themselves in the kitchens, standing around one of the large cauldrons used to boil the morning porridge. For this operation, Valeria would again be supplying the power, but Natasha would be manipulating the spell. Remington was to connect the two, and level out the power supply. "This is going to be such a good announcement," Natasha giggled. Imagine the looks on their faces when the porridge starts talking to them."

"We won't have to imagine it," Valeria replied. "I can't wait." She mimicked the deep voice that they had chosen for the spell. "Hello fellow students. We at the Co-Operative would like to thank you for choosing Co-Operative Porridge. We hope you enjoyed your invisible doors while they lasted." The impression set off all three of them in fits of poorly contained giggles, and pretty soon they all had tears streaming down their cheeks. It took a little while longer before they were all calmed down, but before too long they began work on the spell.

The spell was coming along nicely, and Natasha was revelling in the opportunity to play with so much power. It was almost addictive, and the seconds seemed to pass slower as she channelled more and more of Valeria's power, manipulating it with childlike joy. She tried to draw more, but suddenly the supply cut off. Natasha's concentration broke.

The world seemed to explode. A small portion of the world did explode. Natasha found hersel lying on the ground. She raised herself onto her arms, and looked around, not quite recognizing her surroundings. The heavy iron cauldron was completely vaporized. Black soot covered Natasha's hands, face, and robes where she had been leaning over the cauldron. She turned her head to see Remington also on the ground. Valeria was still standing, but from the look on her face she was just as shocked as the rest of them. As Natasha began to ask what happened, a disembodied voice began to speak, its tone deep but distorted. "Hello fellow students. We at the Co-Operative would … Hello fellow students. We at the Co-Operative would … Hello fellow students." Natasha would have found it funny if she didn't feel like she had been kicked by an ogre. Lifting herself to her feet, she stumbled over to Remington, dragged him upright, and supported him as they made their way out of the kitchens. They wouldn't want to be here when the Headmistress came to investigate.


	15. Chapter 15

"What was that?" Natasha had asked the same question three times, interspersing it with some choice language that she had picked up from an unsuspecting Captain Darryl. This time though, she got an answer. " 's my fault," mumbled Remington, his words sliding together into a single, almost unintelligible sound. "I lost control. Couldn't shape the power quick enough. Got backed up. Had to release it into the cauldron or I would've ended up like the cauldron did." Despite her earlier display of unsanitary language, Natasha still hadn't figured out what was wrong with Remington. Valeria had another year of life experience, however, and finally placed it. "Remmy," she asked gently, "Remmy, are you, are you drunk?" Remington bowed his head. Valeria heard a sob. "Remmy, what's wrong?"

"It's my dad. His patrol. Orcs. They think orcs captured him. I got the letter when I got back to my room. I didn't know what to do. I just wanted the pain to go away. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gone with you."

"We're going to get him back." Valeria realized how absurd the idea was the moment the statement left her mouth, but Remington had straightened up slightly, and she couldn't bear to disappoint him. "Natasha, get changed and grab your sword. I'll help Rem get ready. We'll meet at the stables."

Moonlight pierced the lonely clouds as three mounted shapes raced along the eastern road out of Everlund. Remington's letter said that his father's patrol had disappeared somewhere in the High Forest, and they had last been seen in the small trading village of Whitefoam, just under nine leagues from Everlund. The sun hadn't yet risen when the Co-Operative made it to Whitefoam. They stopped long enough for the horses to drink, and then turned sharply into the forest.

"There's too much of this forest to search. We'll never find an orc in here, let alone the ones we want." Raymond's voice carried easily over the sounds of the rustling leaves and plodding hooves.

"Then let's not find them. Let's let them find us." Natasha's tone left little room for argument, and her actions left only room for regret, not argument. Before the other members of the Co-Operative could stop her, she conjured a ball of flame in the hand not holding her reins. A moment later, and there was just ashes where a grand oak tree had once stood, and a strong column of dark smoke streaming into the sky. "Unsaddle the horses. Look like we're sleeping. No orc can resist a campfire to raid. When they get here, let them capture you."

"Capture us! Natasha, have you gone completely insane? They'll take our weapons! They'll kill us! They'll eat us alive!"

"But before they eat us alive, they'll take us prisoner. And Raymond will follow them, since he can turn himself invisible. The orcs will take us to the rest of their prisoners, which should include Raymond's father." Natasha's matter-of-fact tone did enough to soothe her sister's nerves. "And then Raymond gives us our weapons back, and we slaughter them all." All three nodded, and then sprang into motion, working to create the impression of a peaceful campsite before it was too late.


	16. Chapter 16

It took a surprisingly long time for the orcs to come. In fact, Natasha and Valeria were no longer feigning sleep, having been exhausted by the previous night's activities. Remington was only barely holding onto consciousness. But the orcs did come.

There was little time to prepare. The orcs had moved with relative stealth compared to their size, and Remington only heard them coming when they moved within a few hundred feet. Fortunately, the forest was thick enough that he wasn't seen as he cast his invisibility spell. Moments later, the orcs rushed into the clearing.

Natasha screamed as she was woken by a heavy hand lifting her entirely off the ground, and slinging her over a broad, armored shoulder. Her scream stopped as the impact blasted the air out of her lungs. As she realized what was happening, Natasha also realized that Remington and Valeria would both have seen her screaming in terror. She didn't want to look weak in front of them. Maybe she could pass it off as good acting. It would surely have been suspicious not to scream while being kidnapped by an orc. Yes, it was just good acting. Of course she hadn't been afraid. It was her plan, after all.

When she finally managed to regain control of her bruised body, Natasha looked up from her position on the orc's shoulder. Their makeshift campsite was rapidly disappearing behind them as the orcs moved away. All three horses had been slaughtered, and were being carried by other orcs. Whatever the orcs couldn't carry or didn't need had been set on fire.

Valeria had been taken less unawares than Natasha. She had only slept lightly, and had woken up to the sound of orcish footfalls charging towards her. This extra moment had allowed her to collect her thoughts before her capture. As she herself was slung over the shoulder of an unnaturally large orc, Valeria had heard her sister's screams. It felt like the pit of her stomach fell away, leaving a gaping void. Valeria twisted and turned, trying to catch a glimpse of her sister, causing the orc carrying her to crush her legs in his meaty grip. She screamed in pain, but it was worth the pain. For just a brief moment, she had seen her sister, who had seemed as safe as could be expected. Valeria could only hope that Remington was managing to follow, or their plan would end very, very badly.

Valeria didn't have time to worry about Remington, however. While she hoped her sister's plan would work, she was not at all confident, so, keeping her wits about her, she scanned the area, identifying landmarks and trying to recall the route the orcs travelled. If they had to escape in a hurry, they would need to know where to go. She patted the small of her back gently, hoping that no orcs were looking as the material of her overshirt briefly showed the outline of a dagger. Remington had taken their swords to deliver to them later, but she felt comforted by a small insurance policy. She had had the sheath made to hold a dagger to her back in their first week at the wizarding school, and had worn her concealed dagger every day since. Just in case.


	17. Chapter 17

Well, I'm back. For now. I would really appreciate reviews, follows, etc. if you can find it in the goodness of your hearts to bestow such gifts upon one as unworthy as myself. Thanks homies.

* * *

Valeria really needn't have worried. The orcs had been glad to dump their burdens in a cage with the rest of the prisoners before heading off to the raucous sounds of the rest of the camp. Valeria and Natasha were instantly mobbed by the other prisoners, including Sir Terence, Remington's father. "My ladies, why are you here?" Sir Terence cried. "Surely Everlund has not been overrun by the orcs?"

"It's okay, Sir Terence," Valeria replied hastily, not wanting to worry her friend's father. "We're here on a rescue mission."

As if on cue, Remington released his spell of invisibility. Sir Terence and the other prisoners jumped with surprise at seeing the young man, burdened down with three swords and sweating heavily from the exertions of following a group of victorious orcs through the forest. Raymond handed two swords through the wooden bars of the prisoner cage, and Valeria strapped her sword around her waist with relief. Natasha handed her sword to Sir Terence. Valeria could understand the reasoning behind that. Her sister was more comfortable with magic anyway, and having the veteran Sir Terence armed and ready to fight would be quite useful.

As quickly as he had appeared, Remington was invisible again, and heading towards the main orcish camp. It was lucky that the orcs considered their prisoners safe enough to leave them unguarded, and Remington could understand their complacence. The wooden cage was built of thick hardwood planks, and he doubted even an orc would have the strength to rip the mighty door from its hinges. Only help from the outside would let the prisoners escape, and as far as the orcs could know, they were alone in this area of the forest. Despite this good fortune, though, Remington knew he would have to act fast. If any orc passed by the prisoners' cage before he went back to open it, there was a chance that they would see the weapons and raise the alarm.

Lost in thought, Remington arrived quickly at the very edges of the orcish camp, recoiling in disgust from the smell of the deep latrine pits. He skirted around them, leaving a wide berth between himself and the edge, lest he trip and fall. Once past the pits, he moved with purpose towards a brown tent only a few hundred paces away. Next to the tent was a bright furnace, and two apron-clad orcs, skilfully wielding hammers to beat red-hot metal into submission. Remington could only assume this was the tent he wanted.

A step inside the brown tent plunged Remington into shadow, as a grin broadened onto his face. His guess had been completely accurate. Weapons of many varieties, almost all large and wicked-looking, covered the worktables and spilled out of the chests all around the room. Remington took a few moments to look around before spotting what he was looking for. Relegated to the very back of the room, almost out of sight under a workbench, was a chest filled with weapons designed to fit human hands. It seemed the orcs had very little use for them. Remington tried to pick up the chest and swore violently at the weight of it. He quickly glanced around to make sure nobody had heard his unintentional outburst, and then got back to work.

A little while later Remington returned to the prisoners and handed over six swords, as many as he had been able to carry. Some of the prisoners were still weaponless, but the strongest and best trained were all armed, and they were all nervous of being caught by the orcs while still trapped in the cage. At his father's request, Remington drew his sword, quietly and carefully pried apart the hinges, and pulled the door as far open as he could. Valeria and Natasha slipped out easily. The soldiers followed, but it was more difficult for them to get their larger frames through the narrow gap. Once everyone was out, Remington joined his father and the two girls, who were deep into a hushed argument.

"I still say we should attack them," came Valeria's harsh whisper. "We have the element of surprise and we're not outnumbered that badly."

"Valeria, don't be stupid," replied Natasha's higher voice. We're outnumbered, some of us don't even have weapons, and if you hadn't noticed, those orcs are a little bigger than us."

Valeria was about to reply, but Sir Terence interrupted. "She's right, Valeria. But I still don't like the idea of losing the element of surprise. If the orcs catch us in the forest, we'll be at even more of a disadvantage."

Remington grinned, and caught Natasha's eye. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked.


	18. Chapter 18

Less than half an hour later, the ragged group of former prisoners was on the move into the forest, leaving behind them a cage seemingly still filled with prisoners. A closer look would reveal that they were not prisoners at all, but simply illusions, but a closer look would also involve the observer tripping the flaming wards placed around the cage. Valeria didn't think that would be too much fun for the unsuspecting orc who would finally go to check on the cage. They traveled back the way that Natasha and Valeria had been carried by the orcs, Valeria in the lead, as her recollection of landmarks was the clearest. Natasha had clearly been shaken by their capture, and had a less clear memory, so she took up the rear with Sir Terence. Every few minutes the two of them would turn around and check that they were not being pursued.


	19. Chapter 19

They traveled all night to reach Whitefoam, unable to stop for fear of orcish pursuers. At Whitefoam the group split up. The soldiers remained to defend the village from possible orcish retribution, while Sir Terence commandeered horses for himself and the children, and they rode to Everlund with all haste.

They had hardly been riding for an hour when they met an enraged Lord Albert, at the head of a party of fifty of his personal guards. Valeria and Natasha maneuvered their horses behind Sir Terence, and let him take the anger of Lord Albert. After they'd saved his life, it seemed the least he could do to save them from their father's wrath. When he saw Sir Terence, Lord Albert's rage seemed to cool slightly. Both men dismounted and Lord Albert wrapped Sir Terence in a crushing hug.

The two men moved away from the rest of the party so as not to be overheard, and Natasha nudged her horse closer to Remington, Valeria following her lead. "How much trouble d'you reckon we're in?" she muttered to her co-conspirators, trying not to be overheard.

"Not too much, I'd say," replied Remington. "Your father seems pretty pleased my father's alright, so I'd guess once he hears the full story he'll only really be upset that we put ourselves in danger. Which for me won't be too bad. For you two, maybe he'll be proud, maybe he'll be furious."

Natasha swallowed nervously. Her father wasn't the type to get angry easily, but if there was a time for the former pirate captain to get angry, it would be now, when the last members of the family line had willingly put themselves at the mercy of uncivilized orcs. While the orcs had been scary, the legendary cruelty of pirate captains was beyond terrifying. She noticed Valeria shiver slightly alongside her, and did her best to look unafraid.


End file.
